Judging the court's new art

The new $42 million judicial complex has everything one would imagine belongs in a courthouse: wide hallways, smooth wooden benches, gleaming courtrooms.

By Suevon LeeStaff writer

The new $42 million judicial complex has everything one would imagine belongs in a courthouse: wide hallways, smooth wooden benches, gleaming courtrooms.It also boasts a spacious lobby, an atrium with a 70-foot-high ceiling and wall-to-wall space coated with fresh paint.Over the next several months, it will be the mission of a few select individuals to fill this blank canvas before the building's public unveiling in January.Enter the Marion County Art Selection Subcommittee,<0x000A>MaCASSo for short - a coalition of artistically minded individuals picked to help make the new courthouse a warm, pleasing place.Warm? Pleasing? Those words may not be the first that come to mind when imagining the official but essential place commonly associated with trials, tough sentences or bitter custody disputes. But the judicial center, no matter whether they like it or not, is "the place where people bring their business," said County Judge Jim McCune.That's why the judge, as chair of MaCASSo - the acronym is a play on words - believes the building ought to be welcoming."It's a courthouse. People usually come here because they've got to," he said. "They've been subpoenaed, sued, arrested. They come with fears, anxieties."The roughly dozen subcommittee members, representing such agencies as Fine Arts for Ocala, The Appleton Museum and The African American Artsfestival Committee, will be responsible for tapping into networks, seeking out art donations and generally ensuring the future artwork is representative of the community at large.On a recent afternoon, members of the group toured the new complex, which is connected to the current judicial center. Wearing the required hard hats, they walked the halls, tiptoed around newly laid tile and expressed wonder at the 150,000-square foot space."I've watched that building go up and I was just so pleased to see the inside. I was thoroughly impressed," said Peachie W. Jackson, who serves on the Appleton's advisory council.

Leslie Hammond, who runs her own art consulting firm, Artistic Eye Fine Art Services, was pleased with the building's versatility."There is tons of potential and the space is varied," she said.By any measure, the interior is a handsome space, bathed in natural light from large glass windows and an open atrium area viewable from the various floors above.MaCASSo will focus its efforts primarily on three core areas: the spacious jury assembly room, the atrium and the lobby, buffered by a large white wall.But with no funding, the committee will have to rely largely on art donations. Given today's economy, the members are cognizant of that challenge."Artists experience difficulties in good times," Jackson pointed out."The art is an excellent means of providing historical perspective," said Charles Jackson, Alachua County facilities manager. "The art brings a soft, aesthetic, pleasing taste to the facility."The existing judicial complex, erected in 1991, displays donated artwork, mostly framed paintings and photographs courtesy of law firms and other benefactors. Plaques bearing these individuals' names are mounted beside the work in the main hallway.Unlike other counties in Florida, Marion has no ordinance mandating a portion of government funds be budgeted into construction of new buildings for aesthetic purposes.In Alachua County, officials are required by ordinance to dole out up to $100,000 for a trust that commissions out artwork for public places.That's how stained glass created by a Micanopy firm adorns the windows in the lobby of the $18 million Alachua County Criminal Justice Center, which opened in 2003.

Marion County officials tout the fact that construction on its new courthouse is $1 million under budget and that two floors remain shelled-in to make room for future expansion.They also don't see the need to use public funding for aesthetic matters, even if it concerns a building for public use."We can get high-quality pieces from local artists who are proud to display their work at no cost to the taxpayers," said county spokeswoman Heather Danenhower. "Marion County has followed this practice for many years."Even the panels at Marion County Public Library headquarters in Ocala, notes Marion County Cultural Alliance executive director Nancy Ledding, were the result of a $25,000 donation."Most of the art that is in public places in our country is a direct result of individuals, in contrast to government. We have a tradition of that," Ledding said. "In a situation like the [Marion County] judicial center, I think we're very fortunate to have individuals that will step forward and be a partner and provide the funding for the art in the facility."Fellow MaCASSo committee members acknowledge that in today's economy, grant money or government funding, while desirable, is perhaps harder to come by."The reality is, funds are tight everywhere and the fact that construction money was not set aside for art is probably understandable," said Joanne Cornell-Ohlman, a clinical child psychologist.But she also weighs the artists' perspective. "I think artists are asked to donate all the time," she said. "They don't tend to have a lot of funds, they put so much of their work into it."McCune believes the new courthouse artwork will originate from a mix of sources."There may be pieces donated, and there may be pieces that have to be purchased, by people who buy it and then donate it to the county," he said. "I'm not expecting a penny of taxpayer money expended for this."Either way, the judge has complete confidence his subcommittee will achieve a Jan. 6 deadline to inject the new courthouse with some artistic flair."This is a no-lose situation," he assured subcommittee members recently. "If we do nothing, it's not any more than what we started off with, which is just blank walls."Contact Suevon Lee at 867-4065 or suevon.lee@starbanner.com.